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Standing in the seedy parking lot of the downtown Planned Parenthood building, I steadied myself against my car, reeling from the life-altering news my 18-year old girlfriend had just confirmed.

She was pregnant.

Parenthood was not something either of us had “planned.” But Planned Parenthood had a plan. My girlfriend could go upstairs and “take care of the problem.”

The year was 1982, just nine years after Roe v. Wade made abortion a legal alternative.

Ginger, the daughter that Planned Parenthood offered to exterminate, is top right.

Today, our beautiful, intelligent 35-year-old daughter and her husband, a Colonel in the U.S. Navy, visit us in our downtown Lexington home, just a half a block from that former Planned Parenthood building.

Needless to say, we are “pro-life.”

The Planned Parenthood office? It was still there when we moved downtown 25 years later, and we prayed when we passed by, often knelling right outside on the sidewalk. God answered. It eventually moved, and they no longer perform abortions there. In fact, thanks to our godly Governor, Matt Bevin, and some shrewd pro-life lawyers, every abortion clinic in Kentucky currently has been shut down.

If you bemoan that fact, I dare you to finish reading this blog. Then do something that will take every drop of courage and every scrap of humility you can muster: change your mind on human abortion.

Why? Three reasons.

1. Abortion is barbaric.

Abortion is worse than slavery. Slavery denies a person his liberty. Abortion denies a person his life. How then can you be against human slavery and not be against human abortion? When will the United States wake up to the atrocious parallel?

Between 1525 and 1866—roughly three and half centuries—12.5 million African were shipped to the New World.

Between 1973 and 2018—less than a half century—approximately 54 million unborn Americans have been aborted—more than four times the number of imported slaves.

When will this slaughter end?

One of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had in my life is walking through the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston. There for a wonderful weekend with our younger daughter and her husband, we hadn’t planned to visit it. We unknowingly ran across it as we were sightseeing in downtown Boston. I could hardly speak as I walked through it. Six glass towers rise up from smoldering pits below, each tower 54 feet high, etched with one million serial numbers, each number representing a nameless victim of the Holocaust. As I walked through tower after tower, the weight of the numbers crushed me. Oh, the humanity. All I could utter was a feeble, “No. No. No.” It was too much to grasp.

For six years (1939–1945), at six main death camps, six million Jews were exterminated. Six million is a number that can hardly be comprehended. But as the shadow of each individual number tattooed my skin, a small glimpse of the horror of each lost life came to light.

Twelve million slaves. Six million Jews. 54 million unborn children. How can one human do this to another? Abortion is worse than slavery. And it’s as bad as the Holocaust. Two of these atrocities have been condemned by an awakened society and civilized laws. One—the holocaust of human abortion—remains because too many lack the courage to stand up and say, “I was wrong to support it.”

2. Abortion is not a valid choice.

I’ve never personally met anyone who said that they personally believe abortion is OK. Their position is always, “Well, I personally believe it’s wrong, but I think the choice should be left up to the mother.”

That’s wrong—and absurd—on so many levels, I hardly know where to start.

Science. First, the unborn child—from conception forward—is an individual being, distinct from the mother. Modern DNA evidence confirms this fact. The child has its own DNA, its own gender, its own blood type, its own eye and hair color, its own future. It all springs from conception. Any other arbitrary line is purely artificial.

Pass the buck: Law and logic. So, you don’t personally believe abortion is OK, but you’re willing to let a pregnant woman make the decision to end a child’s life? If you fall back on the “choice” argument, it’s a cop out. Let’s see how consistent you are with your logic. Is this same woman subject to seat belt laws? Yes? Then you’re not consistently pro-choice. How about laws against other self-inflicted choices? Drug use. Prostitution. Suicide. What about guns? Are you still all about choice? You better be prepared to throw out hundreds of other laws that regulate what an individual can do and can’t do—even if it affects only themselves. The choice argument is not consistent logically nor legally. Abortion is either wrong, or it’s right. It amazes me that otherwise intelligent people have actually conned themselves into taking this politically correct, morally horrific position.

God, history, and culture. I lump these together because the historic/cultural rejection of abortion is founded on the Judeo-Christian beliefs that God creates personhood in the womb. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” Psalm 139:13. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” Jeremiah 1:5. Every civilized society in history has recognized that the unborn child is sacred. God built this awareness into His creation. The United States Supreme Court cannot overrule God.

I know there a hundred pragmatic arguments for continuing legal abortion. Just like they made for slavery. But those are issues that must be managed like any other societal problem. All that matters is doing what’s right to protect the unborn child’s life.

3. Abortion is a coward’s crime.

Who picks on someone smaller than themselves? And who stands up for someone who does it? Who murders innocent, defenseless lives, full of future potential? And who fights for someone’s “right” to oppress and exterminate?

Cowards.

I don’t primarily blame the women who get abortions. Most are under duress, underprivileged, and follow up one bad decision with another. I’m primarily talking about the people who say they personally believe abortion is wrong, but want to leave it up to the mother. That’s ignoring science, logic, and God. That’s not standing up for human rights. That’s not leadership. That’s fear of being politically incorrect. That’s pride in not admitting you’ve been wrong. That’s barbaric.

Where are the courageous? I remember the day when I believe the tide of public opinion pivoted on same-sex marriage.* It was 2012 and Vice President Joe Biden announced that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage. A few days later, President Obama came out publicly that he agreed, and a year later, the Clintons also jumped on the bandwagon. After that, things changed quickly. Joe Biden seemed to have been the hinge pin that swung the door of public opinion open to same-sex marriage.

I set forth this public display of courage—albeit misplaced courage—as an example of what I pray would happen on the issue of human abortion. I’m waiting for a highly influential Democrat to stand up and say to their party, “It’s time to change. Abortion is wrong. We’ve been wrong. And I am changing my position on it.” Then we need another to stand, and another, and another, until the pro-abortion plank in the Democrat’s platform is firmly yanked out and fully replaced.

In the meantime, I will never vote for a pro-abortion candidate. Yes, I’m a one-issue, litmus-test voter. And I cannot understand how any believer or anyone else can vote for a person who supports the right to kill an unborn child. Would you vote for someone who still supports human slavery?

I yearn for the day when we look back at abortion with disbelief, as we now do slavery and the Holocaust, remembering it as an appalling relic in our history, an anachronistic artifact that seems out of place in a world that otherwise seems to be increasingly championing human and civil rights.

Who will have such courage? Who will be the Abraham Lincoln of abortion? It will take someone willing to put their political equity on the line and risk it all.

I pray it will happen in the church and my own family, too, where loved ones who claim to be believers still cling to the pass-the-buck, “let the mother decide” position, putting themselves on the slavery/Holocaust side of history’s most barbaric atrocities.

It’s time to change.

Who has the courage to stand and say, “I was wrong. Abortion is wrong. Let life live.”

That’s what one unmarried couple said in a parking lot in 1982. Now life lives. And oh, the marvelous humanity.

*This example an illustration about how one man standing against the prevailing current can turn the tide of public opinion. Using this example is not my endorsement of homosexuality or same-sex marriage. I believe all sexuality outside one man and one woman married for life is sin.

The slave ship illustration at the top of this blog contains 215 unborn children, approximately the number who are shipped to slaughter every two hours—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—by abortion mills in the United States.

$1,000 Reward

In honor of the the first person to contact me and say, “Reading your blog caused me to change my mind on abortion. I was wrong, and I now am pro-life,” my wife and I will donate $1,000 to a pro-life ministry.

Maybe you’ve had an idea for a book or two, and you’re toying with the idea of writing the next Lord of the Rings or Mere Christianity.

I’ll neither try to encourage nor discourage you. But I will tell you five things I learned from writing my book, Know Be Do.

But first, my credentials.

#2,473,132.

That was my book’s rank on Amazon until a few days ago when I skyrocketed to #1,357, 486. I sold one book. That catapulted me past approximately one million other books that apparently have not sold a copy in an even longer time period than mine. At my book’s apex I briefly sat somewhere in the #9,000 range.

So how does writing a worst-selling book qualify me to write this article? Failure is often a better teacher than success. So my chief qualification for writing this blog post is not that I hit the publishing jackpot—the 1%. But that I represent the other 99% of hopeful but ultimately unsuccessful authors. I traversed a futile, four-year journey through the eye-opening reality of publishing a book that few bought.

“There is no end to the making of many books,” wrote the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon (@Ecclesiastes 12:12), as he reflected on the futility of life under the sun.

“Amen,” says #2,473,132.

Five Things to Know Before You Write a Christian Book

1. Writing is the easy part compared with publishing.

I had a book in me that was 30 years in the making. It was the theme of my life: Know. Be. Do. I spent nine months in labor writing my book, and then gave birth. It was hard work, an exercise in self-discipline, an endurance test. I was so proud of my baby. But writing was the “easy” part and, for someone like me who enjoys writing, very fulfilling. Publishing was a whole different story. I was no longer in control of the outcome, and the process was an exercise in futility. Not that I was overly naïve. I didn’t expect major publishers to get in a bidding war for my manuscript. I half expected to get a rejection letter that read something like, “Your book is both good and original. Unfortunately, the part that is good is not original. And the part that is original is not good.” But that would have required someone to actually read the book. And that is next to impossible.

I quickly learned why self-publishing companies like Amazon have grown to be big business. Traditional publishers are highly risk averse. They invest only in a sure thing. What’s more, most of the major publishers won’t even talk directly to an author. They work only through agents who act as gatekeepers. So I shifted my focus to finding an agent. Finding an agent who will take on a first-time author proved to be equally difficult. Again, they want to invest their time only in a sure thing. I don’t blame them; I probably wouldn’t either. One group of agents told me they receive hundreds of submissions each month. They can’t begin to read them all. So instead, you submit a book proposal—like a resume for your book—designed to sell your book in a few brief moments. I spent weeks crafting this important document. But again, to no avail.

After a year of trying and an inbox full of rejections from agents and publishers, I had no other option than to go the self-publishing route. For my book, I chose a company, WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. They provide most of the services that a traditional publisher does. But you have to pay to play. My book was badly in need of credibility, however, and having “Thomas Nelson and Zondervan” on it lent some clout. For my book’s companion workbook, I went the purely self-publishing route through Amazon’s CreateSpace.

Finally, two years into the process, my published book arrived. And even though it was self-published, there’s still no thrill like finally holding that first printed copy of your book in your hands.

2. Getting published is easy compared with marketing.

So now I had boxes of books to sell. No worries, I thought. I’m a professional marketer and communicator. That’s what I do. Here’s what I learned:

Writing—full control.

Publishing—some control, thanks to self-publishing.

Marketing—zero control.

I tried every strategy I feasibly could. A launch team from my network of relationships. A virtual launch party. News releases. Letters and emails to bloggers and other influencers. Social media. Paid ads. Nothing seemed to work. Because I was an unknown, I knew I needed people with name recognition, credibility, and clout to endorse my book. I handed out free books—in person mostly—to major names in the evangelical world. But the hardest thing you can do is get a busy, influential person to invest the time to read your book. It was a two-year exercise in supreme humility.

I discovered I was in good company. My daughter Ginger works for a major book club blog. She spends hours a day combing through Amazon book’s latest offerings and interacting with authors and publishers. She tells of a seminar in which the experts were asked what really works when it comes to marketing books. The answer? The publishers have no idea. They try a bunch of things, but it’s a total mystery why some books get traction and others do not. But when it comes to non-fiction, like my book, however, there’s one truth that’s no mystery…

3. The author’s platform is far more important than the book’s content.

I’ve already confessed to being severely humbled by this process, so now, at the cost of sounding dreadfully conceited, I believe I’ve earned the right to say my problem is not the book itself. Everyone who has actually read it, says it’s amazing. They say it’s changed their whole outlook on Christianity. It’s as good as anything on LifeWay’s best-sellers rack. It has a 5.0 star rating on Amazon—but only five reviews. Pride of authorship notwithstanding, I’m trying to make a point that is much bigger than me: the book’s content is remarkable. I can say that because I didn’t really write it. God did. If there’s anything good about it, He gets the all the credit. If there’s anything bad about it, I get all the blame.

But now the harsh reality: People don’t judge a non-fiction book by its cover. They don’t even judge it by its content. They judge it by who the author is.

I get it. I won’t invest my time reading a book unless I know the author is worthwhile. Why would anyone who has never heard of Larry Alan Thompson buy Know Be Do?

I don’t fault the system for that. It’s the natural, normal, market-driven process that flows through life. Most successful authors are not overnight successes. They’ve paid their dues developing a body of work—be it books or sermons or other achievements—that have earned them the right to be heard. That’s the norm. Granted, it handicaps potential exceptions to the rule, but overall the system works. Most good books get the recognition they deserve. Unfortunately, however, a few gems never get discovered.

Chart from my journal about how the quality of a book’s content and the reach of the author’s platform relate to book success.

4. Don’t write a book to make money. Write your book for the right reasons.

I said my intent for this blog is to neither encourage nor discourage you. Unless you have a huge platform from which to launch your book, however, you’re probably feeling quite discouraged. Sales, however, is only one measure of the success of a book—especially a book with eternal, Kingdom-focused purposes. So, if making money is your goal for your book, your story is probably not going to have a happy ending. A minuscule percentage of books ever turn a profit. I read about one small-time author who, by virtue of some unplanned publicity, ended up #1 on the best-seller’s list. His total net from the book? $12,000. Don’t quit your day job. Even most successful authors have some other full-time gig.

But you can find many other reasons and benefits for writing a book:

Impacting the Kingdom through discipleship

Sharpening your own sword

Sanctifying your spirit as you commune more closely with God

Leaving a legacy to the next generation in your family

Enjoying the fulfillment of expressing yourself

Learning more about a topic

Experiencing a new vocation for the first time

Exercising your faith and your patience

If your book doesn’t succeed commercially, God has good reasons. He gives only good gifts—ones that bring Him glory and us good. He may want you to write the book anyway.

Or, you might consider this…

5. Writing a book may not be the best way to tell your story or voice your message.

By my best calculations, I’ve actually reached more people by preaching and teaching the message of Know Be Do than I have through people who have read my book. Theoretically, a published book should be a very efficient way of spreading a message. But it’s not the only way to proclaim your message. Your particular platform may be more conducive to spreading your story, your theme, your message in lives one by one, or in small groups, or by blogging, or by any number of other “media.”

So don’t let that “book” inside you die. Write it with your life. Write it in a book, if you wish. Perhaps you’ll fare better than I. Take it from #2,473,132. Yes, “there is no end to the making of many books.” But no one else can tell the story you alone can tell. God has someone who needs to hear. Publish it!

“That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.” @Psalm 26:7

Author’s Note:
I’ve taken a four-year sabbatical from blogging while I wrote, published, and marketed my book Know Be Do. I’m resuming my blog now, and I thought it appropriate to make the transition by writing two follow-up posts to my book: first, “What Know Be Do Didn’t Tell You,” and second, “Five Things to Know Before You Write a Christian Book.”

Writing a book—unlike creating a website, learning to love, saving money, mowing grass, and most other things in life—has a finish line. At some point, you stop writing and editing, and hand over the book to be published. It’s in paper-and-ink concrete. There’s something satisfying in that, especially the moment you crack open that box and hold the first copy of your book in your hands.

But there’s a downside.

Like a conversation that didn’t quite go right, you think about all the things you wish you’d said. Or not said. Or said better.

The Next Chapter

I’ve thought a lot about what a second edition of Know Be Do would say (if I ever sold the four leftover boxes of books still in my storage room!). Sure, I’d correct the 11 typos on my growing list of errata. But there’s one major concept that I’ve discovered since I published Know Be Do, a principle so important I wish I could add a chapter to every copy of the book.

Just as God progressively revealed the steps of Know Be Do to me one level at a time—Do, then Be, then Know—God has shown me in the time since publishing the book that Know, Be, and Do are not levels at all. They are not steps. They are not sequential. They are interrelated. Let me explain.

The basic premise of Know Be Do: Turning the Christian Life Right Side Up (available at Amazon) is that most people are living the Christian life upside down—and they don’t even realize it. They define the Christian life by what they do and don’t do. It leads to a life of frustration, futility, and failure. Know Be Do turns that around and emphasizes that the Christian life begins not with Do, but with Know. Start by intimately, biblically getting to Know God. Once you see Who He is, you’ll understand who you are in Him (Be). And once you accept and employ your position in Christ, then Do comes quite naturally—supernaturally actually. No more striving and struggling. No more flailing and failing. Start with Know, then Be, then Do.

And I still believe that’s totally true and essential.

But the story doesn’t stop there. The process is not not linear. It’s circular.

Circular not linear

Do isn’t the finale. It’s the prelude to knowing God even more intimately.

Know feeds Be. Be feeds Do. And Do in turn feeds Know, starting the cycle again.

Even as I wrote Know Be Do I feared that I was undervaluing Do. That wasn’t my goal. In fact, I even wrote in Know Be Do, “The purpose of this book is not to undermine the value and necessity of doing for God (works), but it’s to underline the preeminence of living in Him (knowing) and Him in you (being).” Every book, however, is in some way an extreme reaction to a counter concept. And Know Be Do was my manifesto against the Legalism that warped my Christian perspective for many years—and still does to some degree. In fact, it distorted my thinking so much that I failed to connect one more dot—from Do back to Know.

Consider Psalm 111:10: “All who follow His instruction have good insight.” Principle: Do what God says, and you’ll get new insights into Him.

One time my Dad asked me to do a chore for him. I neglected it. It stifled our relationship until I did it.

On the other hand, say my Dad asks me to do something. He helps me. We do it together. It bonds us and fosters more cooperation and love.

Commands Lead to Communion

Obedience opens the door to greater intimacy. Check out Ephesians 3:19–21:
And to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Notice the cycle:Know: To know the Messiah’s loveBe: So you may be filled with all the fullness of GodDo: To do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in usBack to Know: To Him be glory forever

Doing what God wants–and empowers—us to do, closes the loop, completes the circuit, keeps the power flowing.

As God has enlightened me more and more to this truth, I’ve discovered that ultimately Know Be Do isn’t linear, it’s actually not even cyclical.

It’s interactive.

Know leads to Be and Do.

Be leads to Do and Know.

Do leads to Know and Be.

Three-fold Cord

It’s all interactive, interconnected, and interdependent. A three-fold cord that is not easily broken (@Ecclesiastes 4:12).

Know. Be. Do. Times infinity.

Is this the final chapter?

Probably not. I’ve been to a summit before, only to discover there’s another even higher summit on the horizon.

Only God knows what amazing truths await just over the horizon. Our walk with God has no finish line. And unlike a book, our story with God has no final page. And I can’t wait to read the next chapter.

My original, prepublication book cover with circular design. Maybe I had it right the first time?!

imageAugust 1Larry Alan ThompsonBlogcircular1 Comment

About Larry

An award-winning creative writer, Larry Alan Thompson has made a career out of distilling a message down to its simplest form—and making it memorable. Combine this experience with seminary training, a decades-long quest for knowing God, and ministry at one of the largest churches in the world, and you get a breakthrough book like Know Be Do.

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About Larry Alan Thompson

An award-winning creative writer, Larry Alan Thompson has made a career out of distilling a message down to its simplest form—and making it memorable. Combine this experience with seminary training, a decades-long quest for knowing God, and ministry at one of the largest churches in the world, and you get a breakthrough book like Know Be Do.